Monday, August 28, 2017

Thursday, June 22, 2017

The word is out on
the new alternative to health care.One
would think we would become weary of forever bending over and bowing to the
will of the wealthy and privileged, regardless of its devastating effects on
the 99%. Remarkably, some continue to insist they thrive despite the
abuse.While I question their judgment,
you have to admire their veracity.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

There are those among
us who appear to believe they have found a new savior in the form of Donald
Trump.As for me and my house, we still
serve Christ.In doing so, we will
continue to defend and protect those who are least among us, God’s magnificent planet,
and all its creatures great and small.SC

Mr. Trump evidently feels that the efforts of the
civilized world to preserve our planet for future generations represent an unaffordable
expense.One can only assume Mr. Trump is
aware of some alternative planet which will be cheaper to protect from the
devastating effects his administration is having on life on earth.SC

Monday, May 29, 2017

As Christians, we’re
called to “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God”.So, as a Christian, how does one promote
Christ’s life changing message with all due humility?In my humble opinion, the obedient pursuit of
this commission requires not the belligerent derision and slander of the faith
of others, but a gracious and amenable demonstration of the effectiveness of
our own. Anything less is incompatible with God’s Word.SC

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Just as certainly as advances in technology
created the information age; the abuse of that technology has created the age
of misinformation. Truth is defined as a
verifiable and undisputed fact, proposition or principle.Truth is not someone’s personal perversion or
misinterpretation of facts, but the actual, unadulterated facts themselves.While someone’s personal perspective will
affect their perception or comprehension of facts, perspective and
comprehension do not change the facts. The
pursuit of knowledge and truth has benefits. Adherence to the alternative to truth
has consequences.SC

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

So, along with health care and public schools, now they're doing away with
the Environmental Protection Agency. Its only the planet at stake. Surely they
can find some alternative planet to go along with their alternative facts,
their alternative truth, their alternative reality, and their alternative love
of God and Creation.SC

Thursday, February 16, 2017

I’ve been following Christ, with varying
degrees of success, for a long time. During that time, I’ve sent up all variety
of prayers. In my experience, if you pray to receive a blessing, the results
may be discouraging, but if you pray for opportunities to be a blessing, you’re
rarely disappointed.SC

Monday, February 13, 2017

There are those among us who stubbornly deny reality and cling to the past.
I sympathize and share your tendency. That being said, science is the
observation and classification of provable facts, and denying facts is foolish
and expensive. While knowledge of the past is admirable, a bright future
depends on science and technology. Some see a bright and prosperous future as a
result of education, while others continue to believe the world is flat. I
myself am a reasoning person of faith. Cherish your faith, but not at the
expense of reason. Never diminish the future in deference to the past. SC

Thursday, February 9, 2017

I Pledge Allegiance to the flagof the United States of
Americaand to the Republicfor which it stands,one Nation under God,indivisible,with liberty and justice
for all.

Under whose god, you
may well ask.The First Amendment
(Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law
respecting an establishment of religion. Unfortunately, there are those
who choose to interpret these words very differently in order to support their
own biases and agendas. They have entirely missed the true, original,
and intended meaning of our Constitution and its very first amendment. They prefer
an alternative meaning. That, in my humble opinion, is at the heart of
our problem. What we have here is a failure to communicate and comprehend the
basic principles of our American ideals of Liberty and Justice for all. We
have citizens who passionately wave the flag and the Constitution, while
entirely overlooking the very first amendment which the founders believed
essential to the Republic’s success.SC

Monday, February 6, 2017

Down through the eons of time, empires, dynasties, and eminent
civilizations, have achieved great heights, and then come down like the salmon
leaves of autumn, brought low by the same troublesome human nature that has
hobbled mankind since Cain cudgeled Abel. Learned philosophers and renowned
historians have devoted their lives to the study of these events, producing
ponderous, voluminous anthologies, which grace the shelves of celebrated
centers of higher learning all over the world.And today, when similar behavior threatens our own aspiring metropolis,
we scratch our head and wring our hands and wonder what the hell happened.I feel tremendous empathy for people as
individuals. As a species, I think we’re highly overrated. The only thing we
have to fear is ourselves.SC

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

My Savior suggested we give up
our jacket, walk the extra mile, forgive as often as necessary, give to any who
ask, and love unconditionally. To believe and behave otherwise is not
Christianity, but some alternative faith. It certainly does not reflect the
American values I cherish. Turning desperate people away reflects neither
Christianity nor America’s principles of liberty and justice for all.It reflects not only alternative facts, but a
dark and alternative America. SC

10 “See
that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their
angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11] [a]

12 “What
do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will
he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that
wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is
happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander
off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing
that any of these little ones should perish.”

Being
human and encumbered as we are by our needy robes of flesh, we tend to approach
any issue by first choosing the solution which is cheap, easy, expedient, and
in our own best interests. If we profess to follow Christ, the proper solution
is rarely that easy.If we truly follow
Christ, we must address each and every issue by asking ourselves, what would Christ
do? In almost every instance, including immigration; regardless of ethnicity, religious
or partisan divides, or gender issues, the answer is the same; The Good Sheppard
would shelter the lost sheep. In my humble opinion, a God-fearing government
of, by, and for its people, would do likewise. SC

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Every
day I see fb posts from people who say the election is over; it’s time to shut up
and move on.Well, the election is over,
but I still love this country and the principles that America stands for. I’m
still a proud American who appreciates the sacrifices that have been made to
achieve the freedom and justice we enjoy today.And I’m still a Christian who strives each day to do justly, love mercy
and walk humbly with my God.And I
intend to continue standing up for the things I love and making my voice heard
when I see those things being threatened, especially when they’re threatened by
duly elected officials. SC

Whether our President is Donald Trump or Howdy
Doody, there are strings attached. The President’s authority is subject to the
will of the people. Our democratic republic provides all variety of safeguards in
order to assure that no branch of government, including the Executive branch,
ignores the voices of our electorate. Through the access available to us
through the Legislative branch, our senators and our congressmen, we the people
continue to pull the strings, and are ultimately responsible for our government
and its effectiveness. If our government runs amuck, we have no one to blame
but ourselves. Be peaceful, civil and respectful, but be vigilant, and honor
your responsibility as a citizen.This
is not a time to be silent and blame others. SC

Sunday, January 22, 2017

We will now experience firsthand what befalls
a nation when one third of its voting populace prefers fake news, prevarications, conspiracy
theories and innuendo over hard, cold facts. This should be enlightening.

It’s being suggested that we should wait and
see. Should we wait until Social Security and all federal agencies are privatized
or defunded? Should we wait until women’s rights are entirely dismantled?Should we wait until peaceful protest is
criminalized? Should we wait until environmental safeguards and the planet are irreversibly
devastated? Should we wait until people are denied the right to vote based on their
income or ethnicity? Should we wait until the results of our elections are influenced
by outside entities who share none of our American values? Should we wait until
public schools are abolished? Should we wait until bigotry, intolerance and
discrimination are government policy? Should we wait until health insurance is
only available to the very wealthy?Should we wait until tax breaks for the 1% have
drained the last dime from our economy and most Americans are homeless, hungry,
desperate, and prepared to do whatever is necessary in order to feed their
families? How long can we afford to
wait?Truth, Justice, and The American Way
have taken quite a beating, but the pursuit of liberty continues, and the dream
shall never die. SC

Friday, January 20, 2017

Picture a donkey and an elephant, joined at
the hip and sharing vital organs.It’s
unavoidably ungainly and not particularly attractive, but it’s how democracy
works. Our hope, our destiny and our challenge are to work together. Our unity is essential to our success. SC

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

We’re cautioned against consuming the
contents of our Bible cafeteria style, meaning, selecting only our favorite
morsels and disregarding the rest. While I don’t disagree with that admonition,
the truly essential ingredient in scripture is Christ’s message of hope, faith
and charity. If taken outside the context of Christ’s message of love, many
scriptures can be easily misconstrued. There are far too many people in the
world today who’ve been led to believe that being gut-wrenchingly conservative
is essentially the same thing as following the Savior. Suffice it to say, I
respectfully disagree. In my humble opinion, if your actions don’t show Christ’s compassion and mercy, best dust
off your Bible, because you’re not following Christ. SC

Friday, January 13, 2017

It’s much
the same dream that began in the minds and hearts of America’s Founding Fathers.
It’s a vision, a hope, a goal and a passion which began to materialize when our
forefathers first set foot on the shores of this remarkable country. It’s alive
and well today in the hearts of many. It’s The American Dream.It’s a belief that people of every
conceivable faith, origin, and ethnicity can join together and find peace, acceptance,
common purpose, and strength through that diversity, and in doing so, form a
government of, by, and for a people, unified by their diverse faiths and their
mutual pursuit of liberty and justice for all. It’s dedicated to the
proposition that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. Many have
dedicated their lives to this proposition. It’s a proposition that a person
could proudly die for. It’s the dream of a society where each and every
individual has the right and the responsibility to pursue and participate in policies
and practices which assure fair and equitable treatment of all their fellow citizens.
It’s a vision of, not just a shining city on a hill, but an entire country
where devoted citizens appreciate their own liberty, uphold and defend the
liberty of others, and dedicate themselves to the great and noble task before us,
that this nation, under God, shall have a new
birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.SC

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Sunday, January 1, 2017

The very first day of 2017 is probably a good time to once again share my
testimony. I’m a proud American and an unapologetic follower of Christ. I
believe in doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God, and I
respect the rights of others to walk with theirs. I’m blessed to be a citizen
of a country that cherishes and upholds the principles of liberty and justice
for all. I am not called as a follower of Christ to force others to conform to
my view of morality. I’m called to walk the path I’m given in the light I’m
given, and to share that light with those who’ll have it. If you glimpse in any
of my humble and imperfect efforts the reflection of a merciful and
compassionate Savior and follow Christ as a result, I’m gratified. If you do
not, that’s my shortcoming not yours.

I believe many would agree that
2016 has been a long, tumultuous, transitional year.It remains to be seen what that transition
will produce. In any case, our challenge in 2017 is to salve our expectations
of what might have been, and reconcile ourselves to what is. With that in mind,
what are my expectations, resolutions, and goals for the New Year? Throughout
my life, I’ve had the good fortune of membership in some remarkably successful and
rewarding groups and clubs.In each
instance, these groups had several things in common. They were comprised of
people who were prepared to set goals, participate, and achieve results, with
the expectation that they would pay dues based on their ability, and share equally
in the responsibilities and the benefits. They were dedicated to addressing the
needs of every member, and the greater good of the group. Each member agreed to
adhere to basic rules of civil behavior, and each group selected members,
officers, or representatives who were given authority to enforce the rules and
pursue the goals of the group. When followed, this simple arrangement can prove
successful on any level, whether the group is family, community, city, state, or
national. Sadly, there are always those who abuse the privilege of membership by
thwarting the efforts of other members and refusing to pay their dues, while
taking full advantage of the benefits.My
goal in 2017 is to pay my dues, exercise responsible stewardship and citizenship,
continue my support for civic minded citizens, and pay forward the benefits of
being an American. I wish you a happy, healthy, harmonious 2017. SC